In circumstances of remote care-giving, responsible parties often are not able to easily track daily activities. For example, family members cannot easily monitor the daily activities of an older, infirm or handicapped parent who may be living alone. Changes in even the simplest activities such as walking and talking may indicate that health is declining or is in a sub-optimal state. Without regular access to this information, however, individuals are unable to get a large-scale picture of behavior over time, making timely detection of healthcare problems more difficult.
Current methods for tracking daily activity include pencil and paper tracking, persistent phone calls, and basic tools (such as spreadsheets) for getting daily snapshots of individuals. More technical solutions, such as Georgia Institute of Technology's “Aware Home” project, track motion and other activity through expensive devices such as force load tiles and video cameras.